FARMERS AND THE WAR.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15461, 14 December 1915, Page 9

FARMERS AND THE WAR.

TO THE EtoITOR OF "THE MJESF." Sir, —A remark the Hon. Dr. McNab is reported to have made at one of his recruiting meetings, to the effect •'rather let the farmer's crop rat in the field thnn he should keep back one of his men to save it," shows a sad lack of foresight in one of our rulers. It is au accepted military axiom that an armv travels on its stomach. If it had not "been for the £U,000,0U0 worth of larm produce from our Dominion, and Australia's quota, there would not have been one Biitish. soldier, or a khaki-clad lad on Callipoli Peninsula. The humble rustle, minus feathers, and brass buttons, growing turnip?, is performing better work for the Empire than any single individual in the ranks. The situation is extremely grate. The war ha.s raged for upwards of sixteen months, and none other than those whose patriotism blinds them to obvious facts, can deny that up to date the Germans have the better of the Allies —perhaps stale-mate in France, and that there are no indications of the turning of the tide. The British arc badly handicapped—too much democracy. The man in the gutter has too big a voice in State affairs. "Strikes, more pay —patriotism be d—d." is the creed preached from the gutter. There is none of this sentiment in Germany. Every man and every woman is a patriot. Ever since the Kaiser ascended the throne, the Germans have prepared for this war—and thuj preparation right under England's nose. This preparation could only be intended for one nation, and that nation England. Great Britain is saturated with Germanism, and if it were not unthinkable, one would su»pcct that some of England's prominent statesmen intentionally played into Germany's hands. It is the duty of the outlying dependencies to ai.-.ist to their utmost ability the Mother Country in her hour of strew. W ( > must never forget that in assisting Great Britain, we assist ourselves. It' .she £rv»s down, down wr» go. too. The question for our consideration is how bc*t to do it :- Food Ix'ing of the greatest importance, farmers

should bo assisted and encouraged to produce as much as possible: not only ih the Array to be fed, but our cities as well. In the production of food, labour is essential, therefore no recruiting of farm labour should bo permitted. Men, men, and more men, to follow up the food supplied by the farmers arc necessary. Tap the city reservoirs, where they' •are in abundance. Offices, shops, factories. Their .services, with a little inconvenience, can all be dispensed with. Better by far that the farmer should feed them at the front, rather than it dumped down prices in the city. As a further source of supply, why not clofe down the trams, and a reduced railway seivieo—inconvenient, i you may say, no doubt, but not so tl«s- J astrou.s as the farmer's crop rotting in j die iield. The closing down process is • far-reaching. Why not close the newspajx>r offices? AVhat useful purpose do they serve? Verhaps it is publishing censored cable lies relating to the war, for the purpose of deceiving the Germans! The .farmers are proverbially grumblers. They grumble at the war tax returns —that is u small matter— but they have just cause to grumble at having to bear the brunt of the war tax, and on top of this penal tax. to have the price of their produce dumped down, by reason of • the embargo, for the purpose of giving the city parasite cheap food. winter, potatoes j were £3 a ton here, against £S in *>ydney. Beef. 32s <3d hero, against 80s in .Sydney. Thus the city parasite prey-1 mg on the farmers' vitals, is provided for by the farmer at Massoy's instance. In Chrtstchurch the doctors won't givo Mr ?t!a!:soy p. hearing. lam puzzled— 1 really am—to know whether Mr Masse v is one of the old-time Biblical Christians, who used to turn the other cheek, or just a plain mug. —Yours, , etc.. !